Alphaville Rarities
 

Let‘s share pics and descriptions of rare Alphaville items.

Alphaville Rarities
 

Hey, I was opening this thread (in the hope something similar doesn‘t already exist here) as I thougt it would be nice to create and discuss a catalogue of items to „hunt“ for.
So - what are your most precious treasures?

I have -among other stuffs- a 1986 envelope from Lunapark with a stamp at the back featuring 3 dolphins. Not really sure if this counts as a rare item (or had you in mind music only(?).

I have the Marian Gold - Feathers And Tar single

And looking for a vinyl (that I don't think exists) and a CD

Seriously Peter, who can beat your collection (for reference: http://www.krapplund.com/collection)? Or I should say your Museum :)
Top rarest item today is the Budde Music 70th anniversary CD, the word "hunt" (high & low) seems appropriate here...

I have ehe vinyl WAAnainn album with Marian singing. It's in a box or a packing crate somewhere and most of it's on YouTube anyway.

I can top that ;-)

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...7a2cedd2a2.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...71802dac7d.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...4fad49e822.jpg

Test Pressing of „Big In Japn“ 7“, 1983, in Metal Box. Unique

When I want to hurt myself I go to krapplund website (or betaville) [wink]

Can't decide wich is my most precious treasure so I'll choose:
Sounds Like A Melody 7'' France wich started it all and my Paris' Locomotive 1999 ticket.

I tried to look for for some criteria to decide if one item is rare or not. I came up with looking at discogs and making a ratio beetwen number of people claiming to have it and the number of people claiming to want it. When < 1 it's rare! So my '<1' items would be, from the less rare to the most:

One Step Behind you 5''
Elegy 5''
Forever Young 2001 5'' fan ed.
Mysteries Of Love 5'' promo US
Visions Of Dreamscapes
Today 5'' promo
Dreamscapes box
Romeos 2nd 5'' promo US ('new sped-up 7'' edit')

Then there is this one, not listed and discussed a lot lately, my most recent buy:
Romeos 7'' promo ('without the guitar intro')

I also have an History MC bought as the real thing but I suspect a copy.

I'll try to update with scans of the two Romeos when I will have access to a scanner.

@shapeseven: SILENCE!!!

Congratulations,it's awesome what you have,guys I wish I had all of that,but Im afraid I dont manage that well in technologies

Ana, its a result of collecting items over decades.

I envy you for the japanese vinyls

[laugh] Did you make an offer Peter ?



On your website you have:
Song For No One - 5'' promo (with 'alternative radio mix')
I Die For You Today - 5'' promo (unnamed version)
Catching Rays On Giant - 5'' promo (4 tracks, 3 labelled 'work in progress')

Would you be kind enough for telling us what versions are different from the album ? Could you provide some at-least-readable scans ? Those items are a mystery to me and I don't even know if they should be in the scope of my collection (I don't collect rare items, I collect items wich have at least one track unavailable elsewhere).

My holy grail for now (and it has been for a long time) is the extremely rare "Für Dich" promo CD. I've talked with Kai Hawaii on numerous occasions and he says he has a copy (and he also added very few got made)...


He also said that, apart from playing at the Tipi concert, it was played a second time, in 2005. He said it was played in Hanover (during a tour)


@Halfnelson - The promo with the "work in progress" mixes is interesting. The tracks themselves are watermarked apparently (traceable to the original person who got it), but the album is so old I doubt much would (or could) happen to anyone who uploaded them. That's my second most-wanted thing. lol

Halfy, would the work in progress tracks happen to be I Die For You Today, Call Me and Fallen Angel ?

Yep. I have that one.





https://www.discogs.com/Alphaville-C...elease/2581176

As I mentioned before, It's a pity that the DVD is spoken German with no subtitles

Another scan from Romeos 7'' promo

Romeos 2nd US 5'' promo.

Seems to be very rare. Now from a musical point of view this version is a serious candidate for the title of the least interesting version from any song.

Basically, as far as I can tell, this is the single version played 4% faster, listening differences from the original version are barely even discernible except maybe the heavy guitar intro.

Who the hell woke up one morning and thought it would be a great idea to put that on an official CD ? And who at WEA-US have given a green light ? [?]

If you're not dear Krapplund and have answer to one of those questions and if you don't think those informations should be restricted to members of a secret society, please don't be shy! [wink]

Muhahaha...have forgot it [laugh]

Very cool item! From 1983 with the Nelson Alphaville sticker.

CROG promo with every track
 

This is something I have. It has all of the tracks from CROG on it.

A few are the same as the final master (Call Me, I Die For You Today, Song For No One) whereas others differ slightly (Heaven On Earth, The Deep).

One track in particular differs a fair bit from the final version (Phantoms). The vocals are completely different. Marian sings the whole song in a more "spoken" or rather "whispery" tone. It's not bad at all.

Carry Your Flag is also incomplete with various portions which are obviously unfinished.

I won't post them on YouTube (though I'd absolutely love to) as I don't have the legal clearance to do that. I tend to post released / publicly available songs which are very hard to find. This CD is an exception as it was never meant to be heard by the public.

https://imgur.com/Z4V33ZZ

Interesting, MGF! It reads 'Watermarked listening-Copy', a kind of DRM protection many online music streaming services use.
Sometimes I wonder if the bands themselves know the very existence of such 'alternative master' copies...

Great find MGF! Didn't knew it existence. Thank you!

If I read you well:
same: Call Me, I Die For You Today, Song For No One
differ: Heaven On Earth, The Deep, Phantoms, Carry Your Flag

Would you be kind enough to tell us about the last five?
Also is there some artwork or some 'produkt fackt'?

All of CROG's promos information (including singles) is so hard to find!


And a shameles bump for a shy member of this foum... [wink]

I haven't listened to it in forever, but to my memory, the other 5 are either the same as the final mixes or the differences are negligible.

The Phantoms mix is easily the best one :) hah.

Nope, it's just the disc. No artwork of any kind.

I also have the Prostitute promo. That one's not interesting in the slightest, though the CD art is pretty nice. Not gonna lie!

I have just purchased, from Discogs, an Israeli pressing of Afternoons In Utopia. The great thing about smaller pressings of vinyl is that, because of demand, the number of pressings is smaller. So a pressing from Israel will sound much cleaner than, say, a 2nd German pressing as Israel probably had not got as many fans as Germany. Therefore, the idea behind grabbing a vinyl pressing from a small country is actually quiet rarer than a German pressing.



https://www.discogs.com/Alphaville-A...elease/9313294



And the vinyl only cost me 20 Euros

Nice!
Also with the song Jerusalem on it, the pressing has to be Israeli.

I am waiting eagerly to hear it to compare against the German pressing that is in my collection.


@ Shape Seven. And be careful. Place the paper into a polycarbon wallet. Paper deteriorates vinyl over time